ASMFC RELEASES DRAFT OF STRIPED BASS ADDENDUM I

The Commonwealth will host an ASMFC hearing on Draft Addendum I to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Striped Bass at 5:30PM on Monday, September 25th at the Annisquam River Marine Fisheries Station (30 Emerson Ave., Gloucester). Please see the ASMFC press releases below and visit www.asmfc.org for further information.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRESS	CONTACT: Tina Berger
September 5 , 2006	(202) 289-6400

States Schedule Hearings on Striped Bass Draft Addendum I

States from New Hampshire through Maryland have scheduled their hearings to gather public comment on Draft Addendum I to Amendment 6 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass. The dates, times and locations of the scheduled meetings follow:

New Hampshire Fish & Game September 20, 2006; 7:00 PM - 7:30 PM City of Portsmouth City Hall Council Chamber 1 Junkins Avenue Portsmouth, New Hampshire Contact: John Nelson at (603)868-1096	New York Department of Environmental Conservation September 19, 2006; 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM 205 North Belle Mead Road, Suite 1 East Setauket, New York Contact: Gordon Colvin at (631)444-0433
Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries September 25, 2006; 5:30 PM - 6:00 PM Annisquam River Marine Fisheries Station 30 Emerson Avenue Gloucester, Massachusetts Contact: Melanie Griffin at (617)626-1528	New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife September 11, 2006; 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM Ocean County Public Administration Building Public Hearing Room #119 101 Hooper Avenue Toms River, New Jersey Contact: Peter Himchak at (609)748-2020
Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife September 19, 2006; 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM URI Narragansett Bay Campus Corless Auditorium South Ferry Road Narragansett, Rhode Island Contact: Najih Lazar at (401)423-1926	Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources September 12, 2006; 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM Tawes State Office Building C-1 Conference Room 580 Taylor Avenue Annapolis, Maryland Contact: Howard King, III at (410)260-8281

The Draft Addendum proposes the establishment of a data collection program to assess the accuracy of current fishery discard estimates and their overall impact on the striped bass population. The proposed bycatch data collection program contains recommended data collection methods and elements, discard mortality studies, and Technical Committee analyses for the states' commercial, recreational, and for-hire fisheries. Under the proposed program, states would be required to report any bycatch and/or data monitoring within their annual compliance reports to the Commission.

Striped bass discard mortality was estimated to account for more than 36% of the overall fishing-related removals in 2004. During the development of Amendment 6, the Striped Bass Management Board raised concerns over the impacts of discard mortality on the overall population. At that time, the Board agreed to develop a data collection program to collect the information necessary to evaluate the accuracy of the current discard estimates. Based on the guidance in Amendment 6, the Board is developing this Addendum to establish the data collection program. Under the proposed Addendum, the collected data would be analyzed to determine if any fisheries result in striped bass bycatch levels that have a significant impact on the overall population or a sub-set of the population. If any fisheries were determined to have a significant impact, a subsequent addendum would be developed to
address the problem.

Copies of the Draft Addendum can be obtained by contacting the Commission at (202) 289-6400 or via the Commission's website at www.asmfc.org under Breaking News. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM on September 27, 2006 and should be forwarded to Nichola Meserve, Fisheries Management Plan Coordinator, 1444 'Eye' Street, NW, Sixth Floor, Washington, DC 20005; (202) 289-6051 (FAX) or at comments@asmfc.org (Subject line: Striped Bass Draft Addendum I). For more information, please contact Nichola Meserve at (202) 289-6400 or nmeserve@asmfc.org.